This Article is From Dec 28, 2010

2G scam: Is there a BJP-Murli Manohar divide?

2G scam: Is there a BJP-Murli Manohar divide?
New Delhi: The chink in the BJP's armour may well be chiseled by one of its own -Murli Manohar Joshi.

In its steadfast campaign against the Prime Minister, the BJP has been insisting that his offer on the 2G scam is well out of line. Dr Manmohan Singh wrote on Monday to reiterate what he announced in a speech last week - that he is willing to appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to explain the A-Z of the 2G controversy.

The BJP - also in a repeat move from last week - says that's not good enough, because the PAC by definition has a limited mandate. What it wants instead is a wider scope of inquiry conducted by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).

Except that Joshi declared on Monday that the PAC's investigation need not be a limited one. Joshi said that the committee can extend its scrutiny all the way back to 2001- when the BJP-led NDA was in power.   

He also stressed that the PAC is not consigned to tackling only what's covered in the report on the 2G scam by the government's auditor - a fact his party has used to justify its demand for a JPC.

Later in the day, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, told the world via twitter why the BJP had been demanding a JPC and why it is not satisfied with a Public Accounts Committee. Her post on Twitter said, "Under the Lok Sabha Rules, the PAC cannot call a minister, much less the Prime Minister. Prime Minister's offer, therefore, has no meaning. The scope of PAC is totally different from that of JPC. While PAC deals with accounts, JPC deals with accountability and governance."

But even as Joshi's out-of-party-line comments raise the BJP's eyebrows, there's another complication. While the PM may have made what he describes as "an unprecedented offer" to answer questions from the PAC, the rule book for Parliament needs the Speaker to sanction any summons for any minister. And for the PM, the rules will have to be amended by the Parliament's General Purpose Committee.

The technicalities could be the motive for the PAC's reserved response to the PM's letter. "We will take an appropriate decision at an appropriate time," said Joshi.

But meanwhile, within the PAC, the Congress and the DMK have begun contesting the Rs 1.76 lakh crore price tag that the government's auditor has put on the 2G scam. The same report also said that it was A Raja who deliberately undervalued spectrum in 2008 to virtually gift mobile licences to companies that weren't eligible for them. That thesis led to a dramatic exit from government for Raja, who is a prominent DMK leader.

With the Congress and DMK using their presence on the PAC to challenge the government's auditor, the BJP will increasingly have to rely on its man, Joshi, to keep the pressure on the government. Its insistence on a JPC contradicts his vision for his committee. And that could provide a much needed diversion for the Congress.

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